Good O' Boy Roundup Report - March, 1996

d)Allegation of racist cassette tapes

Hayward alleged that racist cassette tapes with "comedy" routines such as "the Flight of NAACP 109" and songs such as "My Wife Ran Off With a Nigger" were for sale at the Roundup and that he purchased one. [ / Hayward was unable to produce this tape, claiming that he had destroyed it. In his July 1995 affidavit he made these claims for the 1992 Roundup. In his October OIG interview he placed these events in 1989. ] In his OIG interview, Hayward described the "comedy" routine as:

a sixties rendition of Martin Luther King flying an airplane trying to land in Alabama somewhere. The control tower guy was named Johnny Reb. Martin Luther King also had a navigator. There were conversations between the navigator and Martin Luther King that didn't depict blacks as being very intelligent, I guess. Johnny Reb was trying to tell him, "You're over the runway, put it down," and ultimately made the guy crash and kill them.

He said the music was played by David Allen Coe. Hayward did not identify from whom he allegedly purchased these tapes.

(i)Evidence

We found several other attendees who recalled hearing such music at the Roundup. One recalled that "a guy from Ohio" played the Coe tape in 1989 or 1990. He recalled the same tape being played in other years as well. Another witness told us that "Coe produced a really raunchy record that was played around the campfires and sung along to, that included a reference to a 'nigger' and a white

woman." He did not specify in which year he heard this music. None of the witnesses suggested that such tapes were for sale. [/ As reported earlier, one witness heard this same music being played by a lone individual in 1987. This witness also did not suggest that the tape was for sale. ]

Although credible evidence exists that some unidentified attendees brought such tapes to the Roundup, no evidence supports Hayward's claim that they were openly offered for sale. No other attendee interviewed reported seeing such tapes for sale. Rightmyer has heard such a tape before in connection with his investigation of motorcycle gangs, but he did not recall hearing it played at a Roundup. He also testified that he did not see such tapes for sale at any Roundup.

(ii)OIG findings

Some individuals played music with racist lyrics although we cannot be certain that it was at the 1989 Roundup or how many persons were involved. Inadequate information exists to identify the persons responsible for such conduct.

Hayward's claim that such tapes were for sale, however, lacks substantiation. Hayward is the only person to say that the tapes were for sale and he could not produce the one he claimed to have purchased. Although someone might have sold such a tape on an ad hoc basis if he had an extra one, such tapes were not openly displayed for sale in the same manner in which certain T-shirts were sold in later years. When items were openly for sale, many people knew about it and reported it to us. No similar information emerged about these tapes.